__/ [ Whiskers ] on Thursday 30 March 2006 21:00 \__
> On 2006-03-30, Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> __/ [ Whiskers ] on Thursday 30 March 2006 17:55 \__
>>
>>> On 2006-03-30, Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>> snip
>>>
>>>> I guess what it all boils down to is the following question. Should I
>>>> consider leaving a fully-functional and stable KNode 0.7.2 in favour of
>>>> a different reader or a newer version of KNode? Is there any compelling
>>>> reason for doing so? I post over 1,000 messages a month, so investment
>>>> of time in transition (setup, learning) is not an issue. I am very
>>>> willing to explore.
>>>>
>>>> Many thanks in advance,
>>>>
>>>> Roy
>>>
>>> If Knode suits you so well, why change? You could set up a seperate
>>> system to try out a newer version of Knode (and KDE, if you want) if you
>>> don't
>>> want to upset your current system. (A 'testing' system is quite handy
>>> for that sort of thing).
>>
>> I truly wish I had access to a succinct and digestable changelog [1], such
>> as the one which persuaded me to stay with Thunderbird 1.0.x until the 2.0
>> milestone.
>
> <http://www.kde.org/announcements/changelogs/changelog3_4to3_4_1.php>
> includes knode changes; use your web browser's 'find in page' thingy to
> jump straight to the appropriate section of the page.
Excellent! Thanks a lot, Whiskers.
> If you haven't found yourself asking for the umpteenth time 'why won't it
> do that?' or 'why can't I stop it from doing this?', and there haven't
> been any security announcements, then there isn't a compelling reason to
> change, is there?
I can't say that I agree with the statement. Many features I have come to
discover not because I thought I needed X, Y, and Z, but because I had a
comprehensive 'tour' around the Preferences/Options/Settings panels.
I like to have a 'taste' of all the widgets (don't use too much imagination
here) because all features tend to have a purpose. At some point or another,
somebody must have requested them. I can't think laterally to the point of
conceiving all useful features. If I could, I'd probably be somewhere else
building an almighty and ultimate newsreader that would reach a wide
audience. Features tend to be copies and inherit too. Sometimes, when moving
from one application to another, you gain some and you lose some.
All in all, my point is that I want to find that little feature that makes me
say "Hey! How did I ever live without this?". This happens very often when I
install Firefox and Thunderbird extensions.
> snip
>
>> All in all, I only sought re-assurance that KNode is an plausible choice.
>> What will happen, for example, when SongBird comes out? Will AmaroK (or
>> XMMS, as to avoid flames) still remain the Holy Grail of Linux media?
>> Every once in a while (say a coupla' years), it is good to do a 'sanity
>> check' and what better people are to ask than those who dance between ap-
>> plications, KNode included?
>
> snip
>
> I don't know what any of those have to do with Knode.
>
> If there is something that you want to do with your newsgroup reading or
> posting, and you can't find out how to make Knode do it, then ask for help
> regarding that feature - someone will either tell you how to make it
> happen in Knode, if that's possible, or suggest programs that can do it,
> or do it better. Your question is too vague; there are loads of
> alternative newsreaders out there, but if no-one knows what you are
> looking for then no-one can make useful suggestions.
Here's one 'vision' (admittedly an overstatement) that I cannot make a
reality in KNode. Some posts are more intersting than others. Some posts are
spam. Filtering is often a very precise process rather than 'fluid'. What if
a SpamAssassin like 'brain' could score message /for/ me?
What if I could colour messages for quality (e.g. using a cold-hot blue-red
scale), perhaps based on some settings files where parameters can be
hand-tweaked, e.g.
* "I like short messages"=7/10
* "I don't like much quoting, but can accept it"=3/10
* "I don't tend to like GG posts"=10/10
* "I like long, informative subject lines"=8/10
* "I prefer posters with full names (rather than anonymous posters)"=5/10
(e.g. check how many words exist in "From:"
How does one account for /all/ simultaneously? Okay, so I can combined a
scoring scheme in KNode and then use some colour highlighting. But I'm
afraid that I don't have enough of a handle on things, yet.
> <http://www.newsreaders.com/> has info about newsreaders and associated
> things for most operating sytems.
>
> <http://www.xs4all.nl/~js/gnksa/> is another valuable resource for those
> looking for a new newsreader.
Thanks for the links.
> Here's what people in this group seem to be using this week, based on the
> contents of my local spool:
>
>
============================================================================
> Analysis of posts to news.software.readers by Robert Marshall
>
============================================================================
> (stats compiled with a script by Garry Knight)
>
>
> Total posts considered: 510 over 7 days
> Earliest article: Thu Mar 23 20:21:00 2006
> Latest article: Thu Mar 30 19:29:03 2006
> Original articles: 46, replies: 464
>
>
============================================================================
> Top 10 User Agents by poster
============================================================================
> 1: Xnews.......................................................... :
> 21
> 2: slrn........................................................... :
> 18
> 3: Unknown........................................................ :
> 10
> 4: G2............................................................. :
> 7
> 5: Forte Agent.................................................... :
> 5
> 6: Pan............................................................ :
> 4
> 7: 40tude_Dialog.................................................. :
> 4
> 8: Forte Free Agent............................................... :
> 2
> 9: KNode.......................................................... :
> 2
> 10: Gnus........................................................... :
> 1
I have heard bad things about XNews recently. KNode doesn't seem to perform
too well. This boggled the mind.
> ===========================================================================
> Top 10 User Agents by number of posts
> ===========================================================================
> 1: Xnews.................................................... : 143
> (28%)
> 2: slrn...................... .............................. : 109
> (21%)
> 3: Pan....................................................... : 60
> (12%)
> 4: unknown................................................... : 55
> (11%)
> 5: G2........................................................ : 43 (
> 8%)
> 6: tin....................................................... : 36 (
> 7%)
> 7: MacSOUP................................................... : 14 (
> 3%)
> 8: 40tude_Dialog............................................. : 13 (
> 3%)
> 9: Forte Agent............................................... : 8 (
> 2%)
> 10: Gnus...................................................... : 6 (
> 1%)
>
>
============================================================================
>
> [full output of the script truncated, for the purposes of this article]
KNode is nowhere to be seen. *sigh* And you guys are probably the gurus, or
merely those who experiment. I get mixed feelings.
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